Sometimes you find kernels of truth in how to proceed in an advertising campaign through real life interaction – at least I always have. So for the CMO wondering about millennial strategy – this gem fell into my lap last Thursday night. In short – figure out how to make the customer feel special, and they’ll follow you anywhere.
Recent Articles
ROI of Marketing : Communicating with Fellow C-suiters Effectively
In yesterday’s post, I discussed how most CMOs (and brand leaders generally) don’t calculate ROI of marketing efforts properly. Presuming you accepted that premise, today’s post is focusing on how to understand ROI in context given the three functional areas I described. I think that CMOs would benefit in conceptualizing ROI according to those three vectors because it allows them to discuss marketing/advertising activities in a way that allows their fellow c-suite executives to understand the “value” of activities, and collectively, allows the CMO to know if in fact the strategies they’re pursuing are beneficial in the long term (in terms of reaching business objectives).
Calculating ROI (And Why You're doing it wrong)
Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) are under tremendous pressure to produce. Without question, they are probably among the hardest working C-level executives, and they have to make their results tangible (usually in terms of sales figures or new customer acquisition costs). The metric everyone usually uses is ROI. However, chances are you’re calculating ROI wrong, and you probably draw the wrong conclusions about the number derived (presuming you calculate it correctly). How ROI is evaluated needs to be based upon a serious calculation of ROI as well as then a critical understanding of the context of ROI in your business environment. I’ll explain both concepts, but let’s start first with calculation.
Acquire New Customers using Brand Gravity
The goal of every CMO is to lead a brand so iconic it will acquire new customers without having to spend a fortune. There are only a handful of brands capable of laying claim to such a feat. You’re likely working harder than ever to push your brand toward iconic status, using content strategies and every emerging social platform, hoping that something you do will catch fire. You dream of the day your brand will become admired, not only by its target audience, but also by the larger marketing and business media. Many CMOs search in vain, but there is a predictable set of conditions and strategies, that we call Brand Gravity, that guides whether you stay just a logo, or become a household name.
Instagram Branding – Real World Example
A clever real world example of Branding with Instagram – champagne events by Veuve-Clicquot. An interesting photo in my feed caught my eye – not because of my friends in it – but because of Vueve’s idea for “#clicquotmail” and champagne events.
Acquiring Customers Using Films: Results, Cost, Strategy
Last night, as I was driving the kids home from their day camp, I spotted a 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am Special Edition – just like that of “Bandit” from Smokey and the Bandit. So of course, I immediately thought of that movie, and the late Jerry Reed, and his song “Eastbound and Down” (which I imagine you’re now hearing your head as well). While Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, and Jackie Gleason are stars, the star of that film was definitely the car. That got me thinking about how creative storytelling, what marketers like to call “content”, can impact the acquisition of new customers.